(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a short-arc discharge lamp, and more specifically to a short-arc discharge lamp which does not require a high start-up voltage upon lighting.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Short-arc discharge lamps such as xenon lamps and mercury-vapor lamps are used widely as light sources in luminaire, projection equipment, optical equipment and various industrial applications such as exposure apparatus for the fabrication of semiconductors. Whichever field a short-arc discharge lamp is used in, it has been indispensable for the start-up of the short-arc discharge lamp to apply a start-up voltage, which is much higher than that required to maintain an arc discharge, across both electrodes so as to develop a dielectric breakdown therebetween. A lighting start-up high voltage generator has hence been needed in order to produce such a high voltage. A lighting device for such a short-arc discharge lamp has therefore been large so that its manufacturing cost has been high.